Set Review - Snowglobe - #40223

Christmas is a little less than a month away and LEGO sales and deals have hit the markets.  One of the ways the LEGO Company increases sales is by offering exclusive Christmas themed sets.  See my review of last year's sets here.  This year one of those sets is the Snowglobe (#40223).  It was available to VIP members in the US about a week prior to the Brick Friday sales for orders over $99 and then it was open to all for orders over $99 on the Brick Friday weekend.  It contains 215 pieces and like most years the price on the secondary markets goes up pretty quickly.  I ordered a few things in the week prior to Brick Friday and received a set so here is my review.

The container is similar to previous years.  The front has a limited edition stamp in the upper right corner.  The back just shows that it has a drawer you can open.  Magically, the round 1x1 tile pieces are floating in the air.

Set contents are 3 bags of bricks and an instruction booklet.

Onto the build... it starts off with the drawer portion of the set.  The 1x2 bricks with the brick-like tile design on the side in the brick red color are new (to me).  I think it's a great color and I hope to see it more often in more sets.  Has it appeared elsewhere?

The next picture adds the Santa figure.  I haven't compared him to the Santa figures of the past, but I think it's pretty good. The hat design seems new, but the beard is the same as previous Santas.

Here's the final set with the globe portion complete.  The Christmas tree inside fits nicely.  It doesn't have a lot of detail, but looks decent considering the space available.  The greenery on the top doesn't do much for me, but they had to do something on the top.  The picture on the right shows the drawer open.  I don't know what you'd want to put in there, but it's a nice part of the design.

Normally now is the time that I either recommend or tell you to avoid buying a set.  I can't do that this time because the set isn't available anymore.  If you want to buy it, you have to check out the secondary market.  I haven't looked to see what the prices are, but my guess is around $30.  While I'm no expert, my recommendation would be to wait for Christmas to be over and to look to buy this set in the summer when there probably isn't a lot of interest.  Usually the prices go back up and they start to move faster before Christmas so pick one up before next Christmas if you're interested in one.

Happy Building!

Read this Before Buying LEGO® Branded Products at Walmart

I know some people are anti-Walmart, but I fully admit that I shop there occasionally.  I typically do not purchase LEGO® products there as I can often get them cheaper on Amazon.com.  That was until I went to Walmart.com this past weekend.  With the buildup to the Christmas shopping season the sales online have been getting better.  It always makes me mad when I see the discounts get larger.  "Why did I buy that set a few months ago when I could have waited and saved sometimes $10 or $15 more?"  

Anyways, Walmart shelves typically don't have lots of great sales, but the web site had some great sales that Amazon.com had yet to match at the time (Amazon.com did a few days later).  I found the following sets (before tax):
     -#75149 - Star Wars Resistance X-Wing Fighter - $57.59 (retail price = $79.99 --- 28% off)
     -#31052 - Creator Vacation Getaways - $41.59 (retail price = $69.99 --- 41% off)
     -#75148 - Star Wars Encounter on Jakku - $38.39 (retail price = $59.99 --- 36% off)
     -#75138 - Star Wars Hoth Attack - $15.99 (retail price $24.99 ---36% off)

Besides the fact that I think I should never buy a set at retail price ever again, I was very pleased with these prices.  Unlike Amazon.com, Walmart would not ship to my doorstep.  I had to go to the store.  Thankfully the store is only a few miles away and there were some other items I needed to pick up anyways (more revenue for Walmart... what they want, right?).  Anyways I got a text and email when the order was ready for pickup.  All I had to do was bring my phone to a pickup area at the store with an ID.  They scanned a bar code in the email on my phone, checked my ID, and handed me the sets.  Odds are a worker had picked them the previous evening off the shelves and they were probably at the retail prices set by the LEGO company.  It was quick and easy and I got a great deal.  I can't complain about the experience considering the great deals I got.

So if you're in Walmart and you think you see a great deal on the shelf or there's a set that you really want, check their web site first.  You could save yourself a bunch!

Set Review - Airport Passenger Terminal #60104 - LEGO CITY

LEGO CITY has some recurring themes that can get old after a while and obviously are meant for younger LEGO fans.  The Fire and Police themes within CITY quickly come to mind as it seems like they have a new run each year.  The Airport theme is one of those that doesn't quite occur every year.  The last airport set was released in 2010 and was set #3182.  This year (2016) another airport was released.  #60104, Airport Passenger Terminal, was released on 1 August 2016 in the US.  It costs $99.99 in the US and contains 694 pieces or $0.144 per piece.  I picked the set up from Amazon at 20% off or $80 ($0.115 per piece).  Yay sales!  Onto the review...

HEY!  Here is what the box looks like.  It's the standard LEGO CITY box with the whole set on the front and then some details on the back with a minifigure saying "hey!"

Set contents were 8 numbered bags, a bag of BURP pieces, a bag of random parts (not sure why they weren't in the numbered bags), and an instruction package with 4 booklets and stickers.

Here are the instruction booklets.  #1 is for the workers, baggage cart, fuel cart, and stairs.  #2 and #3 is for the passenger jet.  #4 is for the terminal.  Not a ton of stickers, but a bunch nonetheless.  

Onto the build... Bags 1 and 2 are the workers and the tractor to pull the baggage cart, fuel cart, and stairs.  Bag 1 also includes a brick separator.  

Bag 3 starts the aircraft and includes 3 minifigures (2 passengers and a pilot)  The aircraft has the standard wings and fuselage sections.  I am not a fan of the giant wing piece as it limits the number of seats.  It does however help to make the aircraft more realistic.  Given the size of the aircraft, there are only 5 seats for passengers which is rather disappointing.

Bag 4 finishes the fuselage and all that is left are the engines and tail section.  You'll notice that this aircraft has a bathroom on board as well as some storage for a non-existent flight attendant.  I think this is the first time that LEGO has put some additional details into aircraft besides just seats.  Also there is only one pilot for a 2 seat cockpit in the set.  

Bag 5 has the landing gear, tail, winglets, and engines.  This is the first larger aircraft where the engines are built up versus just a big piece to strap on.  It's not really streamlined, but I like the design and how it is built.  

Bag 6 starts the airport terminal.  Like most CITY builds, they are meant for play so it's really only half a building.  It includes one minifigure and the revolving door entrance.  While the entrance is cool looking, it's about twice the height of a minifigure and there isn't enough physical space for one actually to fit through the door.  I'm not a fan of the design.

Bag 7 finished off the front facade adds in a metal detector and the baggage check-in station.  I guess you enter from the right and then maybe the revolving doors are where you can walk out to the plane.  I'm not really sure anymore.  The conveyor belt is a nice addition to the set for playability and is set up so you can pull the baggage cart right next to it.  

Bag 8 is the final bag with the roof being completed and then the control tower.  The control tower is unmanned... or maybe the one worker does everything?  I'm also not sure how a worker would actually get up to the tower.

So that's it... It's the first passenger airport set released in 6 years.  It comes with a jet, 6 minifigures, a terminal, and some equipment for servicing the aircraft.  Should you get it?  After getting it, I'm glad I got it on sale, but I'm still not sure it was worth what I paid.  I think it needs at least another terminal worker and then a pilot and flight attendant.  Also you're paying for a lot of BURPs to help smooth the aircraft out. The age range listed is 6-12 years old so clearly it is not meant for old farts like me looking for a good building experience.  However, if you're a LEGO CITY fan and you build your own MOCs to go with your city, it has some good additions.  If you're looking to build an airport terminal of your own, you'll find some useful parts to make it realistic.  We'll see if it takes another 6 years for an upgrade.

Fall 2016 - Campaign Update

We have over a month to go and with the addition of inventory of BrickLink, we are on our way to another great campaign.  As of 8 November 2016, we are at $54.41 that we'll use to purchase sets to give to kids at the hospital.  Thank you all for your orders and for supporting this campaign!

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I've been busy with the BrickLink store with orders and adding inventory, but I still have a set review to do.  I've also been busy with the sales going on at Amazon, Walmart, and Target.  I've gotten some awesome deals that I hope to add to the storefronts soon.  So stay tuned and happy building!

Bricks for Bricks on BrickLink

Bricks for Bricks is now on BrickLink.  You can visit the store by clicking here.  Right now, the collectible minifigures are listed, but I'm in the process of adding more inventory everyday.  So check out the store there if you're a BrickLink user.

Set Review - Airport VIP Service - #60102

It's been a while since I've had the space to set up a large city scene, but I'm a fan of LEGO City and mixing in the modular buildings and LEGO Trains that I have.  While LEGO puts out a large number of fire fighter and police sets in the CITY theme yearly, they rotate through aircraft every 2 years or so.  One of them is the set I'll be reviewing today, Airport VIP Service (60102).  It was released on 22 May 2016 in the US and is priced at $39.99 with 364 pieces ($0.137 per piece).  In my opinion it is a bit overpriced, but I caught it 20% off on Amazon.com for $31.99 ($0.088 per piece).  A little better in my opinion.  I'm glad I waited 5 months for it to go on sale.

The box shows the set which includes 4 minifigures (business woman, pilot, car driver, and airport worker), business jet, limo, and airport vehicle on the front.  The back shows all of the things you can do with the set.  The set is listed for ages 5 to 12 so I am not LEGO's main customer, but it works.

The contents come in 5 bags (which are numbered), 3 instruction manuals (shoved into the box), a sticker sheet, and then the bottom of the nose of the fuselage.

Instruction manual #1 is the airport truck with the "follow me" sign on the back and the pilot and business woman.  The airport truck could stand some re-design as the worker has to keep his arms up in the air to sit in it and drive.  The worker comes with a radio.  The business woman comes with a laptop and smart phone.  The pilot does not come with anything.

Instruction booklet #2 goes with bags 2 and 3 and it makes the aircraft.  It's a simple design with a few BURPs (big, ugly, rock pieces) and the stickers definitely help to make it look better, but are a challenge to put on.  I can't see a 5 year old putting them on as listed without adult help.  Here are pictures of the aircraft with the top off and then a view with the pilot and business woman.  The aircraft comes with a glass for her to have a beverage and a croissant to eat.

Instruction booklet #3 and bags 4 and 5 are the limo.  It includes the vehicle and driver.  Below are pictures of bag 4 complete and then bag 5 complete.  There isn't anything special to the vehicle.  There's a space for the driver and the passenger.  The vehicle comes with an "ice box" that you can put a popsicle in.  It doesn't really fit in much, but again I'm not the right age range.  Also I debate whether this vehicle should be 4 studs wide or 6 studs wide.  You could easily modify it to make it a 6 wide.  I'll leave it as 4 for now.

Here's a view of the inside with the minifigs.  There's space for the business woman to put her phone and laptop.  There's also a chart sticker that she can stare at on the cooler.  You can decide whether it is pointing up or down.

From this view, the cooler is a waste of space and adding a second seat in would be better.  Or maybe you could change the design of the cooler as the minifig has to take the roof off of the car before she can take the popsicle out.  Not very convenient if you're driving.   

Here's the final set with minifigs inside.  It doesn't have a lot of interesting building techniques and the piece selection isn't all that great, but if you're a CITY and airport fan, then it's a nice new addition.  If you can catch it on sale (it was 20% off on Amazon today - 22 Oct 16), it's even better.

Happy building!

Why Buy Bricks from LEGO when Amazon Discounts them?

The good news... right now (10 Oct 16) there are a lot of sales going on at Amazon on some great LEGO sets.

-Star Wars 75059 Sandcrawler
-- Retail Price = $299.99, Amazon Discounted Price = $262.98
-Ideas 21305 Maze
   -- Retail Price = $69.99, Amazon Discounted Price = $50.88
-Creator 31052 Vacation Getaways
    -- Retail Price = $69.99, Amazon Discounted Price = $55.99
-CIty 60134 Fun in the Park - City People Pack
    -- Retail Price = $39.99, Amazon Discounted Price = $31.99

There are a few more sets and possibly more will show up as we get closer to people buying for Christmas time.

The bad news... why should you buy straight from LEGO or LEGO Shop @ Home?  If you can wait it seems that Amazon (and often Target and Walmart) will discount the set eventually.  As long as you don't mind waiting a few months, it seems like the set you are looking for will be cheaper.  It's not the easiest thing to do, but it could save you big time.  The 4 sets listed above purchased on Amazon today versus from LEGO (like I did) would result in a savings of $78.12.  The Sandcrawler is rather pricey for a LEGO set, but if you planned to get it anyways, wouldn't you want to save some on it?  Hindsight is 20/20, but an extra $78.12 would be nice.  

My guess is LEGO is aware of this and they are still making money through Amazon although not as much as they could be.  Also, LEGO keeps some sets in their pocket that are never discounted.  Modular Buildings, Collectible Minifigures, a number of the Creator Expert sets, and a few others are never discounted (I don't expect to see the Technic Porsche GT3 RS discounted).  We'll see if LEGO keeps it that way or not.  

So what should you do?  I'm curious to hear your opinions, but my opinions are to do your best to get the best price you possibly can.  Wait a while to see if you can get a set at a discount, but if it's a set you are really looking forward to, then go for it.  Really it's all about how much do you value the purchase.  

Happy building!

Set Review - Creator - Vacation Getaways - #31052

I got this set a while ago and for some reason I forgot to post the review.  Sorry.  Set 31052 is part of the Creator line and is titled "Vacation Getaways."  It was released on 22 May 2016 and has a retail price in the US of $69.99.  That's $0.088 per piece for 792 pieces.  Here is my review...

Here is the box.  The front shows the camper with boat, picnic area, trees, and wildlife design.  The back shows the larger boat and the small house options as well.

First part of the build at step 17 is the start to the base, 2 minifigures (a female and male child), a chicken leg and a camera).

Next up you can see how the back opens up.  You can also see the start of a table area for eating meals.

We now have 2 seats in the front, a door on the side, and the living area built.

The designers used SNOT to put the front windshield in.  You can also see what the pull out looks like.  Pull out?  Is that what you call it?  Or is it an extension?

Here is the final build to include a small motor boat, some wildlife, and 2 trees.

Here is a look with the top removed with a better look at the eating area, kitchenette, bed, toilet, and driving area..  It also shows how the top comes off for access.

Set contents are 9 bags and the instruction booklet that is protected in a bag (Thanks LEGO!).

Step 31 of the build is still more of the base

Step 65 and it's starting to look more like a camper now.  The back is mostly done and we're starting to build up the front as sides as well.

Here is a close up during the build of the kitchen area, the bathroom area, and the bed area that pulls out.

The actual camper vehicle is done here.  We just need to add all of the extra parts on the top where the storage area is.

Here is the build with the grill, table, chairs, and skateboard set up along with the awning out for some extra shade

Final thoughts...
     -I'm a big fan of the Creator line.  It focuses on the building and not the licensed themes that are very popular.  I only built one of the 3 instructions included, but I thought it was a great build.
     -Lots of great pieces.  If you don't want to use this for your City scene or elsewhere, you can break it a part for pieces to use in your MOCs.
     -The cost is good and as of the date of this write up (10 Oct 16), Amazon has the set 20% off so if you're reading it around that date and were looking to get this set, now's the time!
     -If you're a fan of sets with lots of details, then this set is probably not for you.  Go for the VW Van.  This set is for building multiple sets with a single set of pieces.

What are your thoughts of this set?  Post them below!

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LEGO® Store Review - Mall of America

I have been good at putting a new blog post up weekly until last week.  I have a good excuse though...  I happened to be away and I had the chance to tie in LEGO® while I was away.  In case you all weren't aware, the Mall of America is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota (okay, it's actually Bloomington, but close enough).  It's very large and has a ton of stores inside along with an amusement park.  You can go to the link above to see more about the mall, but back to the important stuff... the mall contains a LEGO® Brand store.  

Fitting with the largest mall in the US, the LEGO® store comes across as large too.  Here is the front.

First off, it has its own building area with couches and tables.  The tables have built in base plates to make stacking bricks easier.  The store also has a number of very large brick built models on top to add to the expanse of the store.  I'm not sure if they are permanently there or if they swap out models... I didn't think to ask.  

Here are some closer shots  of the models.

The inside of the store didn't have much different from other stores other than it seemed a little more spread out.  They had the standard building areas for kids (or adults) and all of the sets seemed to be in stock.  One thing that I noticed in this store and maybe it is in all stores, but I wasn't paying attention, was that the really big expensive sets were not stocked on the shelves.  They just had a single version of each one.  A customer in line ahead of me purchased the Star Wars Sandcrawler (#75059) and the worker told him that they only keep an empty box of the set out so kids don't wreck them.  The worker mentioned that some people buy these as collectors items versus buying the set to build it.  I was glad to see that they took note of that and were trying their best to help their fans out.  Another note on stock levels in the store, they had the Volkswagen Beetle (#10252) and the Disney Castle (#71040) available (at the time of this post #71040 was sold out online).  You'll also notice that they have the standard display case windows around the store.  The windows in the picture show some of the sets available to include the modular building #10251 - Brick Bank and #10248 Ferrari F40.  

In terms of the store, the workers were pretty involved with customers.  Many were walking around with constructed sets or parts of sets and they all seemed to be answering questions.  One was explaining to a family with kids how to best stack pieces in a pick-a-brick cup to get the most pieces in there.  She said that they "didn't want to pay for air."  The customer service interactions were definitely at a higher level than the Tysons Corner Center store I went to this past summer.  They also had some of the larger sets on display outside of the windowed display areas to include the Technic Bucket Wheel Excavator (#42055) which was built and by the registers.  Also, one of the windows had some creations built by "our model builders."  I'm not sure who they are, but here is a picture of what they built.

As for buying anything, while the store was fully stocked with all of the current sets I didn't get any new sets.  For one, it's tough to buy something when you know you can get it cheaper elsewhere like at Amazon or Walmart.  I did see one set of parents checking the price of a set at an online location and deciding not to buy due to a cheaper price elsewhere.  The other reason, the sales tax at the store was higher than what I pay locally in FL.  Ordering online from Shop @ Home makes the most sense if I'm going to pay full price for a set directly from Shop @ Home.  I did get a container of bricks from the Pick-a-Brick wall.  The contents of the wall were the same from over the summer when I went to the Tysons Corner Center store, but I still got some pieces.  I realize that it makes it look bigger, but why the need for the giant wall with the fake bricks in the top drawers?

Hopefully I'll make it to more of the branded stores to see which are better or worse.  If you have one nearby that I should checkout some day, please let me know.

Happy building!

Is now the time to buy? - Fall 2016

I don't have any sets to review this week or interesting LEGO® related stories, but I can say that I've been buying a bunch for the store to plus up sets and some sets that I plan to break apart for minifigures.  If you pay attention to the sales out there (for the US) at Amazon.com, Walmart, and Target there have been a lot of sets for more than 20% off and oddly enough a lot for 30% or even 40% off.  

If you haven't read any of my previous posts about buying sets, I highly recommend using some of the online tools that scan all of the sites for sales.  My favorite is Brickset's buying tool.  It shows the sales from LEGO®, Amazon.com, Target, Walmart, and Bricklink.  On the linked page you can see the top sales and then if you drill down you can see all of the sales down to some that are only 1% off.  A screen shot from the site is below.  It's pretty easy to use.

As for themes, it seems that there are sales for all of them.  Friends, City, Train, Disney Princess, Technic, Nexo Knights, Ninjago, Architecture, Minecraft, Dimensions, Creator, Duplo, Super Heroes, and... did I miss any?  Oh yeah, Star Wars.  If you've ever paid attention to Star Wars sets, they often are not on sale and they are usually very expensive.  You can now find a few for 30% off and a bunch for 20% off.  Search for them and if you had planned on picking up one, get them while they are discounted.  Some of the sets have been listed for a while, but others are only or a limited time.  For example, Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle - #75104, was 20% off at Amazon.com and Target for only a few days.  Then it slipped back to 12% off on Amazon.com.  Also to note, Amazon limited the number of Kylo Ren's Command Shuttles you could buy to only one.  I did not see what Target did.  A disappointment to note... Target discounted the Star Wars Sandcrawler - #75059 by 10%.  It's not a lot, but I have never seen it discounted before.  The sale was misleading though.  You couldn't order the set online, you had to get it in the store.  Of course, none were in stock within a 50 mile radius of my home.  Stink.  What is not listed?  Collectible Minifigures, Speed Champions, Exclusives, and some of the newer sets that were just released.  

What does this tell us?  Are inventories high and retailers are just trying to unload stock?  Are they trying to get early sales ahead of the Christmas season?  Are these just teaser sales that will end in a few days/weeks?  Time will tell I guess, but if you are a LEGO® fan and have been looking for a particular set, now is the time to pick one (or more up).  What are your thoughts?